Reigniting Passion
by fantrashtic
Summary: Zuko and Katara both feel like they're missing something. When they collide, with the strength of a waterfall and the passion of a wildfire, they discover new things about themselves. Post-series, Zutara
1. Katara Alone

**Hey everyone, thanks for having a look at my newest fanfiction! If you like it, feel free to follow and favorite, and of course I'm always looking for reviews. Enjoy!**

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The droplets clung to the glass like fleas on a dog, unwilling to relinquish their desperate grasp with a vain hope of survival.

Katara shook her head. _No, I'm doing this wrong_.

Gently, she coaxed them to depart, to form a sphere of water, and then to disperse themselves in the air.

Sometimes Katara forgot what waterbending was about. Ease, flow, flexibility. Not to force or to push, but to drift, to maneuver with finesse. Water was the calmest element, the opposite of fire, the most violent. Air, on the other hand, was breezy, with the flowing smoothness of water and the impulsiveness of fire. And earth was opposite of air, with the stillness of water but the headstrong will of fire. But Katara was an emotional person at heart, never one to bottle it up, always quick to anger, but also stubborn, unyielding and willing to crush obstacles. How, then, did she end up a waterbender? Of course, she had been told she had much placidity and a soothing personality. But she never really felt this, it was just what she exuded, surface tension masking inner emotion. Someone like Zuko was more fit to be a waterbender.

She had been finding herself thinking of Zuko often lately. It was easy to look at him and see a fiery hot-headed noble, but he was so much more, so enigmatic and foreign. Everything about him radiated calmness, from his deep baritone voice to his serene features. Though seemingly quick to anger, he was also prone to cool silences. In some ways, he was her opposite, irate on the surface but easygoing inside. And of course, it wasn't just his personality that she thought about.

But she had done enough pondering, there was work to be done. She grabbed another glass and glared at the water on it, willing it to dry. There, she had done it again. She blinked slowly, and let go of emotion, flushing her mind of the frustration. Delicately, she cajoled the water into vaporizing, inducing it to dissipate, disappearing in the frigid spring air as moisture. That was altogether too difficult for a waterbending master, she decided.

Lately, though, things had been that way. After her and Aang's mutual breakup, she had moved in with Sokka and Suki, and felt a deep, intense frustration in the pit of her stomach, burning its way to her fingertips like an illness. Sokka had noticed, but was much too busy with his marriage and his tribal duties to devote much attention to her. Of course, he couldn't really be blamed for this. They were no longer children to frolick in the snow, but he was in love and married, and she was no longer his best friend. Though she felt a sense of loss and sadness, she was also understanding. He had matured and moved on from their childhood, and yet she could not. If anything, she felt like a meddler in his life.

To stop her interfering, she had lately been leaving the house, taking long walks or canoeing, by herself, secluded in the frozen icebergs of the North Pole. Sometimes it felt good to traverse the white expanse until her muscles burned with fatigue and she forgot, for a time, her isolation. But before long, not even the furious pounding of her heart and the aching of every joint in her body could stop her from realizing that she was leagues from the nearest water tribe settlement, and further from content. And then the frustration would spark once more, rekindled in the pit of her stomach, the flames gnawing their way to her fingertips, devouring all that lay in their path. No longer sore, she would spring up and begin the trek back to civilization, where she would be welcomed by the waterbending children she taught, that elderly couple she had saved once by preventing their boat from tipping, her evermore distant brother, tribesmen, leaders, all ripe with concern for their master waterbendender.

But master waterbender she was no longer. She could barely heal wounds, and her combat skills were much diminished. Even now, as she attempted a once simple task like drying a water glass, it took an enormous amount of concentration and willpower. Perhaps it would be easier to just use a washcloth. No, that would mean giving in to her uselessness! She breathed in once, and then stared at the glass with an intensity comparable to her discontent, commanding it with all her power to dry itself.

It shattered. Pieces of glass shot in every direction, ricocheting off various kitchen appliances and creating a sizable racket.

Suki burst in the door. "Katara! What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Suki, I just… dropped it," said Katara, surprised at her own demolition.

Suki sighed, apparently relieved nothing worse had happened. "That's alright, Katara. I'll take care of these dishes, why don't you go teach your waterbending class?"

"No, I can still do them, it's fine," she protested.

"No, you'll just keep the children waiting if you stay here. Really, this is no problem for me," said Suki.

Katara didn't really need to be told twice. "Thanks so much, I'll see you later!"

The waterbending class was one of her favorite activities. The children were all so promising, and she felt like she was really making progress, being productive. It was also a plus that no one really judged her for living with her brother.

As she jogged down the path, her boots crunching in the blanket of snow, she ran into her brother exiting the village.

"Katara, good news!" he exclaimed.

She sighed. "What is it."

"Zuko's sent a diplomat. You should hear what he's got to say!"

"Why don't you just tell me?" she suggested.

"It's a surprise," he said mysteriously. "And Suki needs me. See you later!"

"Later," she replied. What could he mean, a surprise? From Zuko? She hadn't seen him in years. What could he possibly want with her?

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	2. Zuko's Decree

**Howdy, folks. Thanks for the response to my first chapter! I hope you enjoy this one, but don't expect me to publish them every day in the future. I'll try my best though!**

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Hands clasped behind his back, his cloak flapping magnificently, Zuko swept into the royal council, fashionably late as always.

There was a rustling of fabrics as his advisors stood to bow.

He waited until most of them had already stood to speak. "At ease, gentlemen, no need to strain yourselves."

There was a mumbling of assent as his advisors sat back down.

"What's on the agenda for today?" he asked.

Ling, a balding man with a stooped physique and a quavery voice, spoke first. "My lord, the Earth Kingdom is buying our oil in massive quantities. It appears they are attempting to impose a monopoly."

Zhao, a portly middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed beard, was quick to respond. "My lord, I would suggest an increase on our current tariff from five percent to twenty percent. This would deter them."

Zuko nodded sharply. "I think a twenty-five percent increase would be more apt." The number was unimportant, but asserting his authority was.

There was much nodding and scribbling.

He looked around. "What else?"

The council looked at each other uneasily. Jiu, the youngest of his councillors at thirty-two, a skinny, constantly nervous man that was already balding despite his age, hesitantly spoke, with the air of one about to detonate a bomb. "Well, there is still the issue of establishing foreign relations with the water tribe."

This was met with general groans and sighs of displeasure. Jiu looked as though he wished to never speak again.

Water tribe relations was the royal council's most prickly issue. After the war, Zuko felt it was his duty to reestablish diplomatic relations with them, but some of his more conservative councillors heartily disagreed, wishing nothing more but for those "damn water savages" to be left to themselves. It was one thing to trade with the Earth Kingdom, whom they had occupied, and, as a result, the two nations already been living in harmony in certain villages, their two cultures intermingled, and unfortunately the Air Nomads had met their sticky end, but the Water Tribes were just too different, and it was just too unorthodox to start relations with them.

Zuko was more prone to let his councillors debate over the topic than involve himself. That was his style- cold, detached, but at the same time authoritative and demanding of respect. Perhaps odd qualities for a firebender, the reckless people more accustomed to throwing fiery tantrums than settling for reason. But he was never ablaze with anger, rather keeping it smoldering beneath an icy exterior of cool collectedness. His temper was present, but would not erupt for mere squabbles or hardships. No, the tectonic foundations of Zuko's world would have to be shifted in order for the volcanic mount of his being to spew forth molten fury and liquefied wrath, which would desecrate the lush green landscape to a barren waste, and remind the world of his potential for destruction. But given time, life would return to his side, tempted, as always, by his insurmountable power.

Zuko had become dormant, had not felt the embers of his rage glow for years.

With this void came an ever-increasing difficulty in his firebending. It was becoming harder to grasp for the power to shape flames, and when he found it at last, and held it clenched in his fist, it would wriggle away from him like an eel, splashing away in a trickle of his frustration. Firebending is no gentle art requiring finesse, but borne from a river of passion for which Zuko searched in vain. Someone like the energetic Katara was more adjusted to tap into that spring of feeling.

Katara had been on his mind ever since the introduction of the issue of Water Tribe relations… and on that thought, Zuko withdrew from his pool of reflection and shook images of Katara from his head like stubbornly clinging drops of water. The broad Zhao was in the midst of shouting down Li, a rather greasy man with slicked-back hair and an elegant goatee. "… and they just don't mix right with us folk, it's just not the way of things!"

"Really, Zhao, I'd have thought you'd be less narrow-minded on account of the width of the rest of you. The Fire Lord's suggestion is very fair, and we ought to abide by his decision." Li shot furtive glances at Zuko as he spoke. He very much wanted to be promoted to general.

Zuko abruptly rose. The noblemen fell silent. He spoke.

"Tomorrow, I'll send a diplomat to the North Pole Water Tribe. They will send one in return, and I'll behead anyone who tries to interfere."

Still silence.

"And now I shall retire for the afternoon to hear petitions. Good day, gentlemen." And he left.

He was, after all, the Fire Lord.

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	3. Departure

**Sorry about the wait. This chapter was kind of difficult to write. I don't really have a plot line planned out, I'm just improvising this as I go along, and I wasn't sure what this chapter should entail, even as I was writing it. From here, though, I have a loose idea of what's going to happen. So enjoy!**

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"The Fire Nation needs a diplomat? From us?"

The red-clad ambassador nodded, affirming Katara's question. "It would appear that the Fire Lord suggested that the Lady Katara could be sent, as she is already somewhat familiar with our culture. Where might she be found?"

In response, Katara sputtered like a dying campfire. "Wh- Zuko asked for… me?" Her excitement sparked and danced as if rekindled.

"Be you the Lady Katara?"

"Yes… yes, that's me," she said carefully.

"Well, he merely considered that your tribe might not have a designated person prepared for this duty, and offered a proposition in order to ease your convenience," said the diplomat.

"Well… sure!" exclaimed Katara.

The envoy frowned slightly. "Er… wouldn't you like a bit of time to consider?"

"Oh… yes, yes, I'd best think about it some more." She was far too much a heat-of-the-moment type person. In fact, now that she pondered it, this was a bit unrealistic. People probably wouldn't approve. And she was needed here, the Northern Water Tribe's most competent waterbender. On the other hand, she was also not one to live out of her brother's basement. She wanted to explore, to travel the world like she had done back in the day, only without the fate of the world hanging over them.

It wasn't even much of a decision really.

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Sokka's boots made little imprint in the ice-and-rock mixed snow as he stepped through the vast field of white, following a path that at times was hard to see. Even so, he knew it by heart. It had been there for generations and would always be there, at least until it eventually submitted to the inexorable crawl of time. But the path was here now, which was what mattered, and Sokka followed it as his father had and his grandfather and his ancestors. But it was true, sometime in that hazy past enveloped in the mist of forgetting, someone had blazed it, and someone else had started to use it.

But Sokka would use this path, and so would his children, and their children, until he faded from memories and his existence would vanish. He didn't worry much about this. Life was more important to him than death. Best make the most of it. Happiness shone upon his life, and he was blessed with a family he loved. With this gift, it was his duty to brighten the lives of others' as well. Including, of course, his baby sister.

Katara had informed him earlier that she wanted to accept Zuko's offer. He had acted appropriately skeptical.

"I'm not sure about this, it's just so random, such a whim," he had said.

"Well, that's kind of the idea," she had responded.

"Since when have you been a diplomat?" he pointed out.

"Since now!" she yelled stubbornly, but she could tell she was going to lose this one.

A natural-born warrior, Sokka could smell the delicate waft of victory. He did not, however, pounce, tackling it and wrestling it until it went limp in his grasp. He offered a compromise. "I think the elders already decided on their ambassadors. You ought to politely offer to accompany them."

But this was, unfortunately, a mistake. When conversing with Katara, one did not assert oneself over her in such a manner. She forcefully alerted him of this, and swiftly departed.

Later that day, he found out from Suki, who had found out from her friend Sasha, who had found out from her husband, who had found from his father, who was one of the elders, that Katara would be leaving for the Fire Nation at sunrise. And so Sokka trekked through the brown-and-grey streaked white to see her off.

He could see the village in sight, the cracked silvery structures and chipped icy walkways unfolding before him like a dusty scroll, weathered by time. In the solemn quiet of dawn, he trudged through it all, nodding to the select few who braved the brisk morning to go about their business. He nimbly stepped through chunks of floating ice and finally came face-to-face with Katara's ship, awaiting at the harbor ready to depart. It towered over the smaller fishing dinghies, a grand Fire Nation vessel, more ornate and less crude than the warships but still with a harsh character to it, displaying the cruel beauty of fire itself.

Katara waved at him from atop the ship, and scurried down from the deck to greet him. "Sokka, you've come!"

"Of course," he chuckled. "I have to see my baby sister off on her adventure!"

In spite of herself, she grinned back. "I'll miss you, Sokka."

"I'll miss you too," he said, blinking back tears.

She looked at him, surprised. "Are you crying?"

"I was just remembering something," he choked out.

"Remembering what?"

He dabbed at his eyes with the corner of his sleeve. "When you decided to fight Pakku instead of apologize to him. You were so caught up in justice, in what was right, you lost sight of the rules. You didn't care about winning, you didn't care about getting trained, you just wanted to fight, to release your anger."

A pair of arms enveloped him in a hug. "I'll be alright, Sokka."

"I hope so," he sobbed. The fog horn sounded, yawning into the sunrise, uncovering the solemn veil of morning.

Katara disentangled herself from him. "Gotta go! I'll see you!"

"When?"

"When my bowels are entirely empty of anger!" came her retreating voice.

And with a mighty groan, the ship pushed away from the harbor and sailed into the rising sun, shrinking to a mere shadow on the great horizon of dawn, dwarfed by the immense golden orb ascending into the vast blue azure of the sky. But below this mighty sun, in the cool blue expanse of the ocean, a disc of yellow, rippling with the waves, stared back up, as if to challenge it in all its splendor.

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 **Tell me what you guys think! I'm really grateful to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed last time, and you're definitely still welcome to! I'll make sure to respond if you leave a review. Also, I promise the wait for the next chapter won't be as long. Until next time!**


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